Top 10 Linux Easter Eggs

Not a Definitive List...

Often, when you log into your Linux VPS, you are looking to get some work done. However, no one can claim that the thousands of developers who create the software available on a typical Linux machine are always completely serious.

Linux has a history of including some fun "easter eggs" in its software. In this article, we'll tell you about some fun commands and options to lighten up your day. Not all of them are "easter eggs", but we think you'll enjoy them none-the-less.

Text Editors

Vim and Douglas Adams

Those of you familiar with Douglas Adams, writer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, will appreciate a relevant help option included in the vim text editor.

If you haven't already, install vim. In Ubuntu/Debian, you can type:

sudo apt-get install vim

In CentOS/Fedora, you can type:

sudo yum install vim

Open the editor from the command line:

vim

Type the following to access a special vim help menu:

:help 42

What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? *42*
Douglas Adams, the only person who knew what this question really was about is
now dead, unfortunately. So now you might wonder what the meaning of death
is...

Type the following, twice, to exit vim:

:q
:q

Emacs Games

Not to be outdone, Emacs, the text-editor famous for including everything but the kitchen sink, includes a surprising number of games that can be accessed from within the editor itself.

First, install emacs. On Ubunut/Debian, this would be:

sudo apt-get install emacs

On CentOS/Fedora, execute this command instead:

sudo yum install emacs

You can find out what games are available by checking out this directory:

Strange Options for Common Programs

There are some strange options available in some common programs that you may wish to check out.

Insult Users with Sudo

You can configure sudo, used to elevate the privileges of a command, to insult users when they type in an incorrect password.

To do so, edit the sudoers file with a tool called visudo, which edits and validates modifications to the sudo configuration file.

sudo visudo

Near the top, add a line that reads:

Defaults insults

Save and close the file.

Next, empty the cache that stores your password for a certain amount of time and then mistype your password for a sudo command:

sudo -k
sudo ls

[sudo] password for demo: # Type an incorrect password here
Have you considered trying to match wits with a rutabaga?
[sudo] password for demo:
My pet ferret can type better than you!
[sudo] password for demo:
Wrong! You cheating scum!

Script Kiddie Output for Nmap

Nmap is a commonly used network exploration tool that can be used to perform security audits on your system.

Install it on Ubuntu/Debian with the following command:

sudo apt-get install nmap

On CentOS/Fedora, install it by entering:

sudo yum install nmap

Nmap provides you with the unusual option of being able to output its data in "script kiddie" format.

Let's see what the normal output looks like first, by running the command against the Nmap website itself:

Basically, it replaces certain letters with similar looking characters to emulate "hacker" language or leet-speak.

Command-line Star Wars

There are two different network-reachable, command line Star Wars tributes accessible from your terminal.

ASCII Art Star Wars Through Telnet

Simon Jansen, Sten Spans, and Mike Edwards created a full Star Wars tribute in ASCII (text) animated art accessible through telnet. In layman's terms: you can watch a text version of Star Wars in your terminal!

First, download telnet, a precursor to SSH, if it is not already installed: